An excellent growing season resulted in record yields and good quality for the 2017 corn crop, according to the U.S. Grain Council’s (USGC’s) latest corn quality report, released this week globally.
The 2017/2018 Corn Harvest Quality Report is the seventh in the Council’s annual corn quality survey. The report revealed that the majority of 2017 corn crop conditions were rated as good or excellent during the growing season, leading to strong plant health, good kernel size and a projected record yield of 370.3 million metric tons (14.58 billion bushels), the second-largest crop on record.
“The Council’s mission is one of developing markets, enabling trade and improving lives, and as part of this mission, the Council is pleased to offer this report as a service to our partners,” wrote Deb Keller, USGC chairman and farmer from Iowa, in the report’s greetings. “We hope this report continues in its role of providing accurate and timely insight into the quality of the 2017 U.S. corn crop.”
The report showed 95.1 percent of U.S. corn samples tested rated at U.S. grade No. 2 or better, largely the result of the extended planting period; a warm, wet vegetative period; a cool, dry and prolonged grain-filling period; and a warm, wet and slow harvest.
Average test weight of 58.4 pounds per bushel (75.2 kilograms per hectoliter) was higher than the five-year average and indicates good kernel filling and maturation. Average 100-kernel weight of 36.07 grams was higher than the previous two years, signifying larger kernels than in previous years.
About 98 percent of samples tested below the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) action level for aflatoxins (20 parts per billion). One-hundred percent of the samples tested below the FDA advisory level for vomitoxins for chicken, cattle, hogs and other animals.
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